


two headlights shine (through the sleepless night)

by littleluthor



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, a lil angsty, but we all know im too much of a fluff whore for that, gonna attempt slowburn, im winging it as usual, it'll be smutty eventually, protect baby russian kara, we’ll see where it goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2019-12-07 20:45:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleluthor/pseuds/littleluthor
Summary: When Kara rescues her Russian counterpart from being Lex Luthor's own personal weapon, the safest option is for her to stay with Lena until she can figure out a way to merge them back together. Kara doesn't know anyone, but she knows that she's safe with Lena, and Lena plans to do everything in her power to take care of Kara. Both of them. That's what best friends do after all, right?





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

The tension in the room was palpable as everyone waited with bated breath. The silence that had fallen over the DEO the second that they had lost communication with Supergirl was almost deafening. Alex had called out for Kara once, twice, and then a third and final time before slamming a fist down on the table in defeat. She had now taken to pacing back and forth as Lena, Brainy and the rest of the DEO agents remained huddled around the screen and desperately prayed to hear from Kara soon.

 

Lena didn’t think that she would ever get used to the danger that came along with Kara being Supergirl, but when she had found out that Lex had taken a part of Kara that had been unintentionally split from her during the final battle with Reign and was training her to be his own personal weapon she knew that there was no other option. This doppelganger, if you could even call her that seeing as how she actually __was__  Kara, needed to be rescued and brought back to them. Lena knew that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself knowing that Lex was out there manipulating Kara and attempting to turn against everything that she stood for.

 

The mission that Kara had been sent out on was dangerous, but Lena hadn’t been expecting to lose touch with her, she thought that they would at least be able to help talk her through it from the safety of the DEO, but that wasn’t the case. The only thing keeping Lena calm enough to function and not curl in on herself and give in to the overwhelming urge to cry that she could feel rapidly bubbling up inside of her was the sheer determination on Kara’s face when she had insisted that she go on the mission and reclaim the part of herself that Lex has stolen.

 

So here they were, complete radio silence from Kara’s end and completely unable to do anything other than wait out the silence until they heard from her again. The darkest part of Lena’s brain wanted to add _if_ they heard from her again, but she pushed it deep into a box and locked it firmly away in the back of her mind before putting every single ounce of determination that she had into keeping it together until Kara was safe and back at home where she belonged.

 

Lena wasn’t actually sure how much time passed before Kara came crashing in through the entrance with an identical version of herself. It felt as though it had taken an eternity, but it could have just been a few minutes for all Lena knew.

 

The first thing that she registered about the second Kara standing in front of her was that she seemed a lot smaller than the Kara that Lena had grown to love so much. She wasn’t smaller in height, but she seemed a lot more timid and lacked the overall confidence that Kara Danvers always seemed to radiate whenever she channeled Supergirl. This other Kara seemed to turn in on herself, she looked fragile and confused and scared and Lena’s heart went out to her as the two Kara’s were immediately surrounded by agents the second that their presence was made known.

 

“Oh thank god! Thank god!” Alex called out as she rushed over to Kara to pull her in for a hug before Lena did the same thing.

 

“I panicked when we lost touch with you.” Lena admitted worriedly as she pulled away. “Are you alright?”

 

“It’s alright, I’m okay.” Kara assured both of them. “I don’t think that she is though, she doesn’t have any of my memories or anything.” Kara gestured to a very confused looking version of herself. “From what I’ve gathered she speaks a little English and is almost completely fluent in Russian but I don’t know how to talk to her. I think she’s scared.” she admitted with a sympathetic glance over at her Russian counterpart.

 

“I want to get you both checked out before we do anything else.” Alex told Kara as Lena turned when she felt eyes on her.

 

The newly rescued Kara was staring at her with an intensity so strong that Lena was almost worried that she was about to shoot laser beams out of her eyes in her direction. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should speak up, she wasn’t quite fluent in Russian but she knew more than enough to be able to hold a conversation with someone who was. Just as she was finally about to open her mouth and ask the woman if she was alright, she began to speak up herself.

 

“L-.. Len-.. Lena.” she spoke in a thick Russian accent. “Lena.”

 

Both Kara and Alex, who were immersed in an argument about the fact that Kara needed to be checked out even though she insisted that she was fine, immediately turned around upon hearing the other Kara speak up fr the first time since arriving at the DEO.

 

“She knows who you are?” Alex asked Lena as she eyed her sister’s Russian counterpart suspiciously.

 

“I-.. Apparently.” Lena responded with equal parts confusion and intrigue as she eyed the woman standing before her who was still just staring right at her.

 

“Lena… safe.” the woman uttered seemingly to herself as she nodded. “Safe with Lena.” she spoke a little louder before she seemed to visibly relax and let out a small smile in Lena’s direction.

 

“From what I could work out, I think that she remembered Alex at first but Lex tricked her into thinking that he was the person that she was remembering. Lex, Alex, it’s similar and she didn’t know enough to think that he was lying. She just knew the name and knew that she could trust someone called Alex. I guess the two of you are so ingrained in my life that I can’t forget you guys even if my memory is completely blank.. Or her memory, I guess. This is all a little confusing.” Kara admitted as the three of them stood staring at the Russian woman.

 

“I should be able to get you guys back together.” Lena told Kara, her mind had barely stopped whirring ever since she had found out about the existence of a second Kara and she had already began to form a plan that would merge them back together, but she would need some time. “I can look out for her in the meantime. She can stay with me.”

 

“Lena, no.” Kara snapped almost angrily, although Lena quickly realized that it was actually panic in her voice. “I don’t.. She might.. I don’t know what Lex has done to her and I couldn’t live with myself if she tried to hurt you.”

 

“Kara, she’s _you _.__  She’s a part of you and I know that you would never ever try to hurt me. Plus, I’m the only one here who speaks Russian, and she clearly feels safe with me. I don’t think we have any other option right now. We have to keep her calm just in case she gets overwhelmed and loses control of her powers or something.” Lena assured her calmly. “It won’t be forever, just until I can merge you guys back together or at the very least until she stops being so terrified of everything around her. I can’t stand the thought of you feeling so alone and isolated, Kara, and she __is__ you. I want to be there for her, for both of you.”

 

“Okay.” Alex nodded as though she was trying to convince herself of Lena’s plan. “Okay, but I want you to be checking in with me as often as you can, and if anything happens that so much as looks like it’s going to hurt you, even the slightest, I want you to contact Kara immediately. She’s the only other person who’s a strong enough match for her, and we need to keep you safe Lena.” the eldest Danvers had almost completely disappeared, replaced by Director Danvers, no nonsense head of the DEO.

 

“Of course.” Lena agreed with a nod of her head before they before turned to Kara. “Are you in?” Lena asked her.

 

“I-.. Yes I’m in, but I agree with what Alex said. If your heart so much as stutters I’ll be there in a split second.” Kara warned as she tentatively eyed the version of herself currently standing in a thick winter coat.

 

“Sounds good.” Lena agreed with a smile. “Now will you please go get yourself checked out. You can’t keep me safe if you’re not in tip top condition.” she insisted as Alex smiled smugly in Kara’s direction, knowing that her little sister would never be able refuse Lena anything even if she tried.

 

Lena left the DEO shortly after Kara had agreed to get checked over, she was more than sure that both Kara’s were alright and she was confident that she could leave them in the capable hands of the doctors and nurses at the DEO while she headed home to get some stuff organized. Kara promised to stop by the second that she was given a clean bill of health to drop off Lena’s new ‘Russian buddy’, and Lena had agreed after a quick eye roll and a hug goodbye.

 

Lena was feeling a little shaky when she finally left the DEO and was left alone in the silence of her car. It was a feeling that she had grown to become familiar with over the last year or so. Her favorite person in the whole word had an overwhelming need to throw herself head first into danger and, despite the fact that she was all but indestructible on this earth, Lena still worried about her constantly. The adrenaline eventually tapered off whenever she knew that Kara was safe, but it always left her feeling a little jittery for a short while.

 

After taking a few minutes to just breathe and get her head together, Lena finally put her keys in the ignition and took off down the road. She made a quick stop at the supermarket on the way home for a few odd bits and bobs before finally heading back to her apartment building. She set her bags down on the counter when she arrived before stepping out of her heels and kicking them aside, relieved to finally be able to feel the comforting chill of the floor on her aching toes before she set to work getting the place organized for her new guest. It didn’t take her long to unpack all of her groceries and put everything away where it belonged. The sheets in the guest bedroom weren’t dirty, but they also hadn’t been changed for a while so Lena stripped them off before putting a new freshly washed set on. She usually kept those sheets for her own bed, but she knew just how much Kara loved the silk ones from the many nights that she had spent sleeping in Lena’s bed with her after movies nights or game nights or just regular nights. Lena let out a quiet laugh to herself as she recalled Kara’s reaction to the sheets for the first time. “They’re silk, Lena! Silk! It feels like I’m flying but I can sleep at the same time!” She hoped that Kara’s Russian counterpart would feel the same way about them.

 

Lena moved around the room at record speed as she tried to make it as comfortable as possible. She left a tiny crack between the blinds, knowing that Kara liked to wake up to the feeling of the rising morning sun on her skin. She left a stack of towels in the closet, the soft blue ones that she knew Kara liked because they still dried her off but weren’t overly soft, “Some towels are like drying yourself off with a blanket, and I know that sounds nice in theory but it’s actually extremely uncomfortable, Lena.” Plus, the color brought out her eyes and Lena very much enjoyed the sight of them, in a strictly platonic way, of course. The final touch was the candle that she had bought at the store earlier that Lena knew Kara loved the smell of. She had one in her own apartment by the bed, so Lena set the one that she had bought down on the bedside table and hoped that the other Kara would enjoy it just as much.

 

After making sure that everything was perfect and that Kara would feel as comfortable as possible, Lena headed back into her own room so that she could grab a quick shower and change before Kara arrived with the other Kara. It was all a little confusing in her head and she quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket and began typing out a text message to Kara, her Kara.

 

_Lena: You know, this whole thing is mega confusing. There are too many Kara’s for my mind to keep up with. We need a new name for one of you._

__

She sent it off with a few laughing faced emojis, a direct side effect of her friendship with Kara, before she hopped into the shower. By the time her hair was washed and she was stepping out of the shower, Lena had heard back from Kara.

 

_Kara: We could call her Rara? Like short for Russian Kara? Lol!_

__

Lena dried off her hands on the towel currently wrapped around her body before typing out a reply to Kara.

 

_Lena: Absolutely not, we are not referring to her as lyrics from a Lady Gaga song! I don’t care how good it is!_

_Kara: I suppose you’re right, we’ll just have to figure it out. As long as I’m always your favorite Kara then there’s no problem. See you soon. Xx_

_Lena: You’re my favorite everything, not just my favorite Kara. See you. Xx_

__

 

It was already growing dark outside when Lena’s doorbell rang and she unlocked it to the sight of Kara Danvers, followed by what she could only describe as a visual representation of Kara’s Supergirl persona. It wasn’t very difficult to tell them apart. Lena’s Kara was wearing her regular clothes, a simple button down shirt and her casual navy blue work pants, whereas the other Kara was dressed in tight black ripped jeans, a baggy oversized band t-shirt that had been cut at the sleeves all the way down to her hips, leaving little for Lena’s imagination in terms of her best friends abs.

 

“She picked her own clothes.” Kara offered the explanation as she greeted Lena with a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. “I wasn’t going to argue with her, to be honest I think I look quite good in that shirt, I might have to update my wardrobe.” she laughed as she made her way into the kitchen.

 

“I-.. Uh-.. Yeah.” Lena breathed as she attempted to laugh along with her, swallowing down against the sudden dryness that was building up in her throat.

 

“I’m so sorry about having to drop her and run, but I have a ton of paperwork to fill out back at the DEO about the whole mission.” She told Lena regretfully before turning to face the mirror image of herself. “Lena.. You’re safe here. You’re safe with Lena.”

 

“Safe with Lena.” she nodded in agreement before turning to face Lena with a smile. “Hello.”

 

“Hi.” Lena replied with a smile in return before turning back to Kara. “I’ll check in with you as often as I can, I hope you don’t have too much of an awful night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“See you tomorrow.” Kara repeated as she pulled Lena in for another tight hug before reluctantly stepping back, waving goodbye to the Kara that she was leaving behind and then stepping out into the hallway before closing the door behind her.

 

 _ _“Would you like to watch a movie with me?”__ Lena asked as best she could in Russian.

 

“I appreciate the effort, but I do understand English.” Kara replied with a smile. “The accent throws people off, but I learned from books. I did a lot of reading.”

 

“Oh, I love to read.” Lena replied as she guided Kara down the hall into the living room before gesturing to the large bookshelf that lined an entire wall. “You’re more than welcome to help yourself to any of my books. Do you have a favorite?” she asked with a smile at the wondrous expression on Kara’s face as she took in the sight of all the books before her.

 

“Gatsby.” Kara replied quietly. “I like The Great Gatsby.”

 

“Oh, good choice.” Lena told her as she crossed the room in search of something. “Ah hah! I have the DVD here, we can watch it if you like.”

 

“DVD?” Kara asked with a confused expression on her face as she torn her attention away from the endless supply of books and faced Lena.

 

“Yes, it’s um.. It’s just like the book, only instead of reading the words, you watch it on screen.” She explained as she made her way over to the TV set. “It’s maybe best if I just show you.” she told Kara as she inserted the disc and the DVD Menu popped up on the large screen with a quick montage of the movie playing in the background.

 

“We can watch it?” Kara asked Lena as her eyes flicked back and forth across the screen.

 

“Of course, I got you some snacks too.” Lena told her before rushing off into the kitchen to retrieve the almost criminal amount of food that she had purchased at the store earlier. She had made sure to pick up all of Kara’s favorites, and prayed that the one currently standing in her living room would approve of them just as much as the one who had rushed off to the DEO to fill out paperwork for the evening.

 

“Do you have any chocolate? I’m not sure what else I like, but I know I like chocolate.” Kara asked as Lena entered the room with bags of every food imaginable, and more than enough chocolate to feed a small village, or one hungry Kryptonian.

 

“I have so much chocolate.” Lena laughed as Kara’s eyes lit up at the sight. “I just bought you all of Kara’s favorite things, and as you can see she loves a lot of things. There’s some chocolates in here, I got you some chips too, and toffee coated popcorn I think you’ll really love that, and there’s also some cookies and some soda. Oh, and I can order some takeout if you get really hungry..”

 

Lena trailed off as she realized Kara was staring at her with an odd expression on her face.

 

“This is um..This is you being __kind,__ correct?” she asked curiously as Lena sat down beside her on the couch. “This is selfless because you do not gain anything from it, and yet you do it for me anyway?”

 

“I care about you.” Lena shrugged in reply. She had never really thought about it any other way. She would do whatever she could to make Kara happy, regardless of which Kara it was. “That doesn’t require anything in return. I like to see you happy.” she smiled.

 

“Forgive me..” Kara said after a long moment, her hand suddenly coming up to rest on her tummy. “I have um.. It is a strange feeling. It feels like those flutterbirds, but inside of me.”

 

“Flutterbirds?” Lena was unable to contain the laugh that burst free from her.

 

“Oh, um.. No. I mean..Um.. Butterflies! Yes! Butterflies!” Kara clarified. “I have butterflies in my stomach. You smiled and then my stomach went all fuzzy.” she told Lena with a confused expression on her face. “Do I need to see a doctor?”

 

“I-..Um-.. I think that you’ll be all right. It’s probably just all of the excitement about trying the new foods.” Lena laughed it off although her mind was whirring and her heart had began to pick up so quickly that she had to whisper into the air that she was alright so that Kara didn’t come running just in case she had been listening in to check up on the two of them. “Shall we?” Lena asked as she gestured to the movie, waiting until she received a nod before hitting play and settling back into the couch as the opening credits popped up on the screen.

 

She lasted barely a few minutes into the actual movie before she found herself unable to stop watching Kara out of the corner of her eye. What had she gotten herself into?

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: gonna write slowburn this time i am  
> me in chapter two: yes sharing a bed lovely x

 

 

Lena lay wide awake later that night staring blankly up at the ceiling of her bedroom. It had been a little over two hours since she had wished her new house guest a good night and then headed through to her own bedroom. She had changed into her favorite pajamas, one of Kara’s shirts that she had loaned her when Lena stayed over at her place and then insisted that she keep because _it looks better on you anyway,_  she had read a few chapters of the book that she was currently reading, and then had reached over to shut off the lamp on her bedside table with every intention of getting some sleep, but very quickly realized as she settled beneath the covers that her mind just would not seem settle. Not that she didn’t know why, Lena knew what the exact reason for it was, but she was hesitant to admit it, even to herself. And so she lay awake in the dark, the moonlight sneaking in through the gap between the blinds and casting just enough light to illuminate the furniture in her room, standing tall like headstones in a cemetery.

 

The deepest, darkest part of Lena’s brain was too afraid to fall asleep, to leave herself vulnerable to the strange new woman currently sleeping in the room just down the hall from her bedroom. Lena’s mind drifted to Lex and all the ways that he could have potentially warped Kara’s blank mind into doing some sadistic things, whether those things were done to Lena herself or to the world or maybe even to Kara Danvers. Lena suddenly felt overwhelmingly uneasy and was seriously beginning to doubt her decision to allow Kara’s newly separated other half to live with her in her own private space when her phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand, startling her before she let out a sigh of relief at the reprieve from her downward spiral of thoughts.

 

The brightness of her screen was harsh against her eyes after having adjusted to the darkness of the room for the last few hours and Lena squinted against the light as she immediately read over the text message that had popped up on her screen.

 

_Kara: Hey just got finished with the paperwork and wanted to check in. Hope that you sleep well. -K x_

__

Lena immediately hit the call button after she had finished reading the text, bringing her phone up to her ear as she listened to it ring once, twice, before Kara picked up.

 

“Hey, what are you doing up so late?” Kara’s voice asked in her ear and Lena automatically felt better upon hearing it.

 

“I just-.. I don’t know.” Lena told her quietly, although she was cut off by Kara before she had the chance to say anything more.

 

“Are you alright?! Did something happen?” Kara asked worriedly.

 

“No, no, don’t worry I’m fine. I’m just worried about the whole thing with Lex.” she admitted softly. “I hate knowing that there’s a chance that you could get hurt and that I would be responsible for it.”

 

“Hey, no, stop right there.” Kara told her immediately. “You are _not_ your brother and this is not your fault in any way shape or form, Lena. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count, we’d all be dead if it weren’t for you. No one here blames you for anything. Not a single person.”

 

“I just feel a little uneasy about this. He wants to hurt you, Kara and I don’t know how to keep you safe. I have a strange Russian version of you asleep in the other room and I’m terrified that her mind has been programmed to attack you or something the second that I fall asleep. I’m just worried about you is all.” Lena admitted with a whisper. “and I feel so bad about whatever she’s been through and that I’m even having these thoughts because she really is so sweet and kind and exactly like you.”

 

“Can I come over?” Kara asked softly. “I’ll come spend the night if I would make you feel better, I promise that nothing bad is going to happen to either of us.”

 

Lena had barely let the _yes, please_ fall out of her mouth before Kara had whooshed in through the window wearing her pajamas and had landed in the middle of Lena’s carpet.

 

“You shouldn’t be flying without your suit.” Lena scolded although there was nothing behind it.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Kara rolled her eyes as she headed towards the bed. “Now scoot over.” she told Lena before climbing into the bed beside her and getting settled beneath the covers.

 

They lay in silence for a few long moments. They didn’t really have to speak, Lena automatically felt the benefits of having Kara laying beside her, knowing that she was right there and that she was safe. It was a few moments longer before she flipped onto her side and shuffled over to nuzzle into Kara’s shoulder.

 

“We’re gonna be alright.” Kara whispered as she lifted an arm to wrap it around Lena’s shoulders. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

 

“It’s not me that I’m worried about.” Lena mumbled half asleep into Kara’s shoulder, her exhaustion finally catching up with her now that she actually felt safe enough to sleep.

 

“Yeah well, you worry too much.” Kara teased in an effort to put Lena’s mind at ease. “Just get some rest, I’ll be right here the whole night, I’m not going anywhere.” she promised softly.

 

“G’night.” Lena grumbled as she got closer and closer to being fully asleep.

 

“Goodnight Lena.” Kara whispered as she allowed her own eyes to flutter closed although she didn’t fall asleep right away.

 

Kara lay awake for a little while after Lena dozed off. If she was being honest she was overly relieved that Lena had allowed her to come over for the night. She wouldn’t admit it to her best friend because she knew how much it would worry her, but Kara was terrified. She had no idea who the woman in the other room was. Sure, she was technically __her,__ but that didn’t mean anything at all to Kara. Her mind had been wiped, she had an almost entirely clean slate other than only just being able to remember Alex and Lena, but that wasn’t anywhere near enough to convince Kara that the woman was safe. Truth be told, she would have spent the night on the roof of Lena’s apartment building just to make sure that she was safe if she had to, but it seemed that Lena was just as relieved to have Kara with her as Kara was to be there.

 

When Kara finally felt confident enough that nothing bad was going to happen to them during the night, she settled down a little further into the covers, adjusted her grip on Lena and allowed herself to doze off.

 

* * *

 

Kara happily padded her way down the hallway from Lena’s bedroom and into the living room with the intention of taking her best friend’s breakfast order and then flying out to pick up whatever she had requested to eat, but she immediately stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes fell on Lena perched on the edge of the couch, leg bouncing up and down nervously in the way Kara knew only happened when she had something super important on her mind, but that’s not what cause her attention. What cause her attention was the woman sitting on the couch beside her. The woman appeared to be.. Kara?

 

Kara was looking at an identical version of herself sitting on Lena’s couch and neither Lena or the clone version of Kara seemed to pay any attention as she entered the room and stood just close enough to hear what they were saying but not too close to the point where she would be interrupting them.

 

“I tried to keep it to myself.” Lena was saying to the version of Kara sitting next to her. “I really tried to swallow it down and not let it ruin anything between us. You’re my best friend Kara, you’re my favorite person in the whole entire world and it would crush me if this changed any of that, but I just had to tell you. I just had to let you know because there’s a part of me that thinks that you might possibly feel the same way and I couldn’t ever forgive myself if I let it just slip through my fingers.” Lena finished as she nervously chewed at the skin on the edge of her thumb, knee still bouncing up and down as she glanced at Kara out of the side of her eye.

 

A loud scoff suddenly filled the room, reverberating off the walls as a loud, piercing laughter followed. Lena’s head jumped up to face the woman as she continued to laugh menacingly at her whilst Kara finally fully entered the room and yelled at her to stop, but to no avail. It seemed that neither of them could hear her or were even aware that she was standing in the room or that she existed at all.

 

“You think that I could ever love you!” she scoffed another laugh before looking up into Lena’s heartbroken face. “You think that I would ever love a filthy Luthor bastard child! I am a God! You are a poor excuse for a human being! Hiding away pretending to be all high and mighty when you know deep down how disgustingly evil you are. You are not worthy of me, Lena Luthor. You are not worthy of anyone!”

 

“Enough!” Kara cried as she watched the whole thing unfold. She had never seen Lena look so broken in her entire life an she felt her chest tighten uncomfortably as her own heart broke at the sight. “Don’t listen to her! I love you Lena! I do! I love you! Don’t listen to her!” she screamed as loud as she could but neither of them seemed to notice her at all regardless of how loud she yelled.

 

“You are worthless. You’re not even a real Luthor, you couldn’t even get that right. Your own mother can’t stand the sight of you and your brother was so disgusted by you that he turned insane just trying to get away!” the woman continued as Lena begged and pleaded with her to stop.

 

“Don’t listen to her Lena!” Kara cried. “You are kind and selfless and smart and beautiful and I love you!” she screamed and screamed to no avail.

 

Kara wasn’t sure when this torture would end, or if it even would end. She couldn’t help Lena, she couldn’t get the woman to stop, and she felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

 

“Hey, Kara, hey.” a voice shook Kara out of her downward spiral as she sat up with a loud gasp. Her shirt was clinging to her and she was out of breath as she turned to face a very concerned looking Lena. “Are you alright? You were starting to yell and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

 

“Yeah.. Yeah, sorry.” Kara breathed as she took in her surroundings and realized that the whole thing had just been a nightmare. A pretty graphic nightmare, but just a dream nonetheless.

 

“You sure? We can talk about it if you want.” Lena asked softly as she swept a piece of sweat soaked her from Kara’s face and tucked it behind her ear in an attempt to get her to look at her. “You’re alright, you’re safe Kara.”

 

“I’m fine, I don’t want to talk about it.” Kara admitted quietly, still trying to process the whole thing. She felt overwhelmed and there was a strange feeling bubbling up inside of her chest as she tried to recall the details of the dream. She felt as though she was on the cusp of grasping something but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Can we just please go back to sleep.”

 

“Of course.” Lena nodded with a small smile as she settled back down in her bed and patted Kara’s pillow as she waited for her to do the same. “I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”

 

“Yeah I know, I love you.” Kara mumbled as she got herself comfortable in the bed once again.

 

“Love you too.” Lena told her before pulling the covers up over her shoulders and tucking them in just beneath her chin as she tried to get back to sleep for the few hours that they had left until morning.

 

* * *

 

Much to her relief, Kara was still in the bed when Lena woke up a few hours later, she could still feel the heat radiating off of her and hear her softly snoring as she slept and Lena decided to just sneak out of the bed without waking her, it was still early anyway and she was still more than a little worried about her nightmare last night and wanted her to get all the rest that she could.

 

Kara had confided in Lena a few years back about the graphic nightmares that she used to suffer from every single night for the first few months that she was on earth. They had lay awake in the middle of the night after Kara had suffered her first nightmare in Lena’s presence and she had explained the whole thing to her, whispering softly into the darkness of the room as Lena simply lay listening, taking it all in as she held onto Kara’s hand. Since then she had come to realize that the nightmares only seemed to resurface whenever Kara was feeling overwhelmed or particularly worried about something and given the events of the last few days, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what, or rather _who _,__ was most likely the culprit.

 

Lena slipped out of the bed as quietly as she could, grabbing her fluffy blanket from the bottom of the sheets before wrapping it around herself like a cape to fight off the morning chill and then tiptoeing out of the room as silently as possible as she clicked the door shut softly behind her.

 

Once she was safely in the kitchen she switched the radio on to listen to the morning news in the background before setting up the coffee machine with a hot chocolate on the side for Kara. She always found it disgusting, she loved hot chocolate as much as the next person but having it first thing in the morning was not something that appealed to her at all, no matter how much Kara pouted and insisted that she try it. _I have tried it, Kara. Just not at 6am._

 

Lena had just begun to hum along to the song currently playing on the radio as she poured her coffee into her favorite mug, a joke gift from Kara that read __World’s Best Boss__ in big black block letters, when she sensed someone behind her.

 

“Hey good morning, how are you feeling? I made your hot chocolate just the way you like it, 2 extra teaspoons of sugar and some of those mini marshmal- Oh.. sorry.” Lena jumped as she turned around and came face to face with a different version of Kara. One who wasn’t wearing glasses and had her hair braided, parted perfectly down the middle to a military looking standard.

 

“Good morning Lena.” she spoke in a thick Russian accent as she smiled. “This is for me?” she gestured to the mug of Kara’s hot chocolate and Lena suddenly felt guilty for forgetting about her.

 

“Oh, uh, yes.” she nodded, pushing the mug of hot chocolate originally intended for the woman currently still sleeping in her room towards the woman standing across from her at the kitchen island. She almost opened her mouth to warn her about the temperature of the drink, and then remembered that her Kara wasn’t the only one with superpowers and near indestructible skin.

 

Lena watched curiously as the Russian woman carefully cupped the warm mug in her hands, bringing it up to her mouth as she sniffed it before seemingly coming to the conclusion that she was going to try taking a sip of it.

 

“Mhm!” she hummed in approval. “This is chocolate?”

 

“Yeah, it’s called hot chocolate.” Lena smiled in response as she watched her enjoy the drink for the very first time.

 

She was so caught up in the whole thing that Lena completely forgot about the other Kara, her Kara, just down the hall until suddenly she wasn’t and she was standing in the kitchen with the two of them.

 

“Oh hey good morning!” Lena called out a little too loudly to seem natural as she immediately turned to face Kara.

 

“Morning.” Kara smiled awkwardly at the two women in the kitchen, the only one seemingly oblivious to it all was the woman currently in her own world sipping on her mug of hot chocolate.

 

“Sorry I only made two drinks I totally forgot.” Lena explained as she nodded her head towards Kara’s Russian counterpart with a sympathetic smile. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Fine, I don’t want to talk about it.” Kara said a little too harshly before noticing the sad expression on Lena’s face and trying to amend it. “I’m alright, I just.. It’s all a little to strange for me. This is weird.” Kara admitted to Lena. “I think it’s best if I just go and leave you guys to have breakfast alone. I’ll pick something up for myself on the way home.”

 

“Kara..” Lena began, but she was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

 

“I’ll text you later.” she promised before taking off out through the balcony doors in the living room, leaving Lena standing alone still wrapped up in her blanket with another version of the woman who had just left currently picking marshmallows out of the drink with her fingers so that she could eat them.

 

“I have a whole bag of those, you know.” Lena smiled as she reached up into the cabinet next to the kitchen sink and pulled out the bag of mini marshmallows that she kept in her apartment for Kara, setting them down on the counter before sliding them across to her.

 

“Oh thank you.” she smiled, accent thick even through the clear excitement in her tone. There was a few seconds of silence before her expression shifted, she seemed as though she was contemplating something important before she finally spoke up once again. “Um, Lena, we can watch The Great Gatsby again?” she asked hesitantly, as though she were terrified that Lena was going to snap at her and Lena suddenly felt a surge of guilt about the dark thoughts that she had towards the woman last night alone in the dark.

 

“Of course!” she smiled. “There are other movies too, you know! Do you have any other favorite books? A lot of novels have been turned into movies and I can get access to basically any and all of them.” Lena told her as the two of them headed towards the living room.

 

“Oh, um, I like Harry Potter. Hogwarts seems so magical, another world to escape to.” she told Lena with a smile.

 

“Oh boy have I got _just_  the movie for you.” Lena told her excitedly, rushing off to collect her stack of Harry Potter DVDs from her bedroom before coming back and putting the first disc into the DVD player built into the back of her TV. “There are quite a lot of details missed out in the movies because the books were so long, but they’re still really good. Kara, loves the-.. I mean, um..”

 

“It is okay, Lena, you can talk about Kara. It is clear that you care for her very much, in a way that your brother did not care for me. It is nice to see how you care for her.” she smiled sincerely as Lena picked up the remote and headed back over to the couch.

 

“Shall we?” She asked as she gestured to the TV, trying to move on from the conversation as quickly as she could.

 

“We shall.”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN FOREVER I KNOW I'M SORRY
> 
> I didn’t wanna give Russian Kara a different name so it’s a little challenging to make it clear which one is which, pls let me know if it was alright for u guys <33

 

 

Lena spent the entirety of the day plastered to her couch introducing Kara’s Russian counterpart to the brilliance that was the first four Harry Potter movies. Her mind occasionally drifted back to her own Kara - the one who had all but stormed out first thing this morning before even changing out of her pajamas - but Lena tried to quell the worry bubbling up inside of her. The whole situation was completely foreign to all of them, of course it would require an adjustment period. Especially for the woman who suddenly had an identical version of herself running around.

 

They had paused for a quick bathroom break earlier in the day, between the first and second movies. Lena had used the opportunity to send off a quick text to Kara before they settled down once again.

 

_Lena: Hey, just checking in. Are you staying here tonight? Love you. -L xx_

 

 It was creeping past midnight when the credits rolled on the fourth DVD and Lena knew there was no way that she would be able to stay awake for the next half an hour, let alone the duration of another movie. Despite constantly checking her phone as often as she could, her text to Kara earlier in the day had gone unanswered. Lena’s eyes had started to sting earlier in the evening, and now her eyelids felt so heavy that she had to make a conscious effort just to keep them from closing.

 

“So, what did you think?” she asked, suppressing a yawn as she reached over for the remote and switched off the TV. “We can finish the rest tomorrow if you want to, we really ought to get some sleep now though.”

 

“They are very good. I would like to watch more tomorrow.” Kara smiled, although Lena’s eyes were immediately drawn to the little crinkle that had appeared on her forehead. It was incredible, she _was_  Kara, but not really. She had all of Kara’s tells and little quirks, but she wasn’t _her_  Kara.

 

“Is something bothering you?” Lena questioned softly.

 

It was strange. It had barely been a day since she had met the woman - Lena knew that she wasn’t her best friend Kara Danvers - but it was still a little too easy for her brain to slip and forget just how new to this world that the woman sitting before her was. The confusion that she must be feeling, and the sense of just not belonging. Lena imagined that it must be extremely unsettling, and wanted to do whatever she could to help, even if it was just answering whatever questions that she may have.

 

“I am okay.” Kara told her before falling silent once again. Lena could tell from the way that she worried her bottom lip with her front teeth that she was working up to something and decided to give her a moment. “I am wondering if I may borrow one of your books to read?” Kara rushed out quickly when she finally found the courage to speak up.

 

“O- Oh! Yeah, gosh, yes of course you can!” Lena laughed as she stood up and gestured to the bookshelf that served as one of the walls in her living room. “Help yourself, you can take as many as want. You don’t have to ask.”

 

“Thank you, Lena!” Kara told her excitedly as she immediately rushed over to the bookshelf, eyes wide with wonder as she took it all in.

 

Lena watched in amusement from the couch, suppressing a giggle as Kara’s feet left the floor and she began to float up towards the higher shelves for easier access to the books located at the top.

 

Back when Lena had make the decision to move out of the hotel that she had been staying in for her two years in National City, everyone had insisted on taking the day off to help her move into her new place. It had been all hands on deck for the entirety of the day as they loaded all of Lena’s things into their cars and then unloaded them again once they arrived at the apartment. She had books, clothes, an almost alarming amount of designer bags and shoes and her tiny DVD collection that Kara had help her to expand dramatically throughout the duration of their friendship thus far. Lena had insisted on calling it a night after the sun had set and then bought them all dinner as way of thanks, seeing as how every single one of them refused to accept any other form of payment.

 

Kara had insisted on staying afterwards to help Lena clean everything up and unpack a few more bits and bobs - or at least, that had been the intention anyway. The two of them stayed up the entire night sorting through Lena’s things and getting more than a little tipsy on the bottles of wine that had been gifted to her upon buying a new apartment. They hung up all of her clothes in the ridiculously large closet, sorted through all of her shoes - arranged by both occasion and color - and then eventually moved on to organizing her bookshelves.

 

Kara had hovered above Lena’s head, perfectly lining up each book on the higher shelves whilst Lena worked away on the lower ones.

 

“Don’t worry, you call me any time and I’ll get whichever book you need back down for you.” Kara had promised as her feet had touched the ground once again. The way that she had stumbled betrayed just how drunk they both were and Lena had given her no choice but to spend the night. _You can’t fly like this, Kara. You’re wasted._ Kara hadn’t fought her on it at all, she had simply stumbled into Lena’s bedroom and stripped off her clothes in the middle of Lena’s bedroom, left only in her underwear before flopping onto her bed with a loud “ _ _oof”.__

__

“Lena?” a thick Russian accent jerked Lena out of her daydream and brought her attention back to the room. “Are you alright? The beating of your heart just got very fast.”

 

“O- Oh, yeah, no, I’m fine.” Lena assured her as she waved a hand in front of her face. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

 

“I feel my heart start to beat faster when I have a lot on my mind too.” Kara nodded before turning back to the bookshelf and slowly beginning to stack up the ones that she wanted to read in a pile. “It’s actually rather strange. I do not think I like the sensation. It primarily seems to happen when I have you on my mind, which is a little inconvenient due to the fact that you seem to be on my mind most of the time.”

 

“Me?” Lena breathed out a laugh as she shuffled around on the couch, quirking up en eyebrow as she waited for Kara to continue. “What about me is on your mind?”

 

“Yes. I think about you a lot. I think about a lot of things. Most recently your lips, they seem to be very soft and I like the color of them. It makes my stomach feel funny.” Kara told her absentmindedly, completely oblivious to the way Lena balked.

 

“Well, uh, okay then. I’m gonna head off to bed now. Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen if you get hungry.” Lena cleared her throat and gestured vaguely in the direction of her bedroom, although Kara’s eyes were still scanning over the books.

 

“Goodnight, Lena.” she replied, briefly flashing her a smile before turning away once more.

 

“Yeah, goodnight.” Lena rushed out as she set down the TV remote on the coffee table and all but sprinted down the hall towards her bedroom.

 

Her mind was reeling from the last few minutes as Lena stepped into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She was exhausted and the other woman’s nonchalance about the whole thing was really throwing her off balance. She didn’t know any better, she was simply just explaining to Lena what she was feeling - she had no idea about the implications of her words, or the effect that it had on Lena.

 

Lena was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t even register that she wasn’t alone in her room until she heard the sound of a throat being cleared and almost jumped out of her skin.

 

“Jesus!” she called out as she whipped around and came face to face with Kara. Her Kara.

 

“Sorry! Sorry!” she rushed out immediately as she stepped further into Lena’s bedroom. “I didn’t wanna leave you alone again tonight, so I thought I would come over because I felt bad for not answering your text, but you were watching a movie and I didn’t wanna interrupt so I just thought that I would wait here for you and-”

 

“Kara!” Lena laughed as she cut her off. “It’s fine, I promise. You just startled me.”

 

“Yeah I can tell, your heart is beating super fast.” Kara smiled guiltily as she moved to sit down on the edge of Lena’s bed.

 

“So I’ve heard. It seems to be a reoccurring thing today.” Lena told her as she flopped down beside her, their legs bumping together as the mattress jostled.

 

“What do you mean?” Kara questioned as Lena rested a head on her shoulder.

 

“Nothing.” Lena waved off the question as she hid her smile in Kara’s forearm. “Although while we’re on the topic, I did hear from a little Russian bird today that my lips look _soooo smooth_ and _soft_ that her own heart beats _super_ fast when she looks at them.” she teased as she leaned a little further into Kara.

 

“Oh- hah.” Kara forced out a laugh. “She- She said that to you? That’s.. That’s a little weird.”

 

“I thought it was cute.” Lena shrugged casually before standing up and turning to face Kara. “Do you want something of mine or did you bring stuff to sleep in?”

 

“Oh yeah nice try.” Kara smirked as Lena headed over to her dresser. “You and I both know that

at least half of those shirts are mine. So I’ll have something of _mine_ to sleep in, please.”

 

“Yeah, well, I stole them so they’re mine now.” Lena negated as she tossed one of Kara’s shirts across the room towards her. “Evil thieving Luthor genes and all.”

 

It took them barely a few minutes to change and get settled in bed. Despite doing next to nothing for the whole day, Lena was completely exhausted. She found that she couldn’t quite relax when she was alone with Kara’s other half. The sense of ease - the feeling of being _home _-__ didn’t seem to apply when it came to the other woman. It left Lena constantly feeling a little on edge despite knowing logically there was no reason for it.

 

The sense of unease had settled significantly now that she was safe with Kara, but there was a palpable tension hanging in the air between the two of them and Lena wasn’t sure whether or not she should address it.

 

“I’m glad you came here tonight.” she whispered into the silence of the room after another few moments. “I wasn’t sure if maybe you wanted to stay away, you don’t have to be here just for me, I’ll be okay on my own. I promise.”

 

“It’s not that.” Kara whispered before shuffling over onto her side to face Lena, her head propped up on her arm as she scanned over Lena’s clearly concerned face. “I’m sorry, it’s not you. I swear. I just have a lot on my mind. This is the only place I want to be.”

 

“Well, you know I’ll be right here whenever you want to talk.” Lena promised with a soft smile. “Whatever you need, just let me know.”

 

“Right now I need you to get some sleep.” Kara breathed a laugh. “You’re doing that thing where you bite the inside of your cheeks to stop yourself from yawning, I can see it.”

 

Lena’s face immediately flushed pink as she rolled over away from Kara’s gaze.

 

“Goodnight.” she mumbled as she settled down on her pillow.

 

“Night, Lena.” the smile was still evident in Kara’s voice as she settled down and got herself comfortable too.

 

* * *

 

The following day was hectic to say the very least. Lena’s schedule was ridiculously overbooked thanks to a temporary glitch in the system, which resulted in her being trapped in back to back meetings for the entirety of the day. She managed to sneak off to the bathroom and scarf down an energy bar just before dinner time, but other than that she hadn’t eaten a single thing since the night before and she was beginning to feel the consequences of it as she sat at the head of the table in the conference room listening to the men drone on and on.

 

Her brain was throbbing in time with her heart, pounding against the inside of her skull so harshly that she was unable to focus on anything that was actually being said during the meeting. Thankfully, she only had fifteen more agonizing minutes to get through and then she would be able to go home and stuff her face to her heart’s content.

 

Kara had promised to come over for dinner and join both Lena and her new house guest for the evening, although Lena was feeling more than a little apprehensive about the whole thing. The two of them had gone to the DEO together this morning - Lena had to leave them alone in her apartment as she rushed off to her first meeting of the day, and everyone had agreed that it was best for Kara’s new Russian counterpart not to be left by herself for any long periods of time, both for safety reasons and simply because they didn’t want her feeling lonely or excluded.

 

Lena felt absolutely wrecked by the time she finally got out of work and arrived back at home. The traffic hadn’t been too bad given the later hour, but the drive had still seemed to last an eternity. She stepped out of her shoes the moment that her apartment door was closed behind her, suppressing a moan at the relief before releasing her hair from it’s ridiculously tight ponytail prison.

 

“Hey, are you okay?” Kara popped out of nowhere, startling Lena once again at the unexpected company in her apartment.

 

“Jesus! You have to stop doing that!” Lena called out as her hand shot up to her chest.

 

“I’m sorry.” Kara suppressed a laugh. “I’ll text you next time so you know to expect me. Are you okay though? No offense but you look exhausted.”

 

“I promise you I feel worse than I look. It was a long day.” Lena replied as the two of them headed towards the kitchen. “There was a problem with the scheduling so I was stuck in meetings the whole day without any breaks. I need an aspirin and a trough of water. Some pizza would be good too, do you mind if we order in? I know we promised to all have a proper dinner together but some takeout and a movie is all I can manage tonight.”

 

“Of course we can! Do-.. Uh-.. Never mind actually.” Kara began before cutting herself off.

 

“What is it?” Lena asked as she stood up on her tiptoes to reach the medicine cabinet, reaching around blindly for the aspirin to help ease her headache.

 

“I was gonna ask what kind of pizza __she__ likes, but I guess it’s just whatever I like.” Kara told her awkwardly as she gestured to the vague living room area where Lena guessed a slightly rougher version of her best friend was currently residing.

 

“Yeah I would assume so.” Lena replied. “Ah-hah!” she called out victoriously as she finally located the aspirin and popped one into her mouth, chasing it down with a blissfully cold bottle of water from the fridge. “How was your day with her anyway?”

 

“It was fine. I took her to the DEO with me but I didn’t see much of her, she spent most of the day with Winn actually. I had a lot of stuff to do.” Kara explained as Lena finished her bottle of water and grabbed another one.

 

“I have some time later in the week, I promise it’s a priority for me to get you guys back together as soon as I possibly can. I’m so sorry about the delay, I wasn’t able to postpone any of my meetings today, which means I’ll be playing catch up tomorrow and probably the day after too.” Lena told her as she began to massage her temples in an attempt to ease her headache faster.

 

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Kara interrupted, gently reaching up to remove Lena’s hands from her head before pulling her into a tight hug. “Don’t you dare overwork yourself on my account, or on anyone else’s account for that matter. Just because this whole thing is a little weird for me doesn’t mean that I can’t handle it, we’ll work this out Lena. Don’t you dare feel like the responsibility is on your shoulders.”

 

“I think it’s weird for everyone.” Lena’s voice was slightly muffled by Kara’s shoulder as she held onto her. “We just have to take it day by day.”

 

Kara insisted on going to pick up the pizzas instead of just having them delivered, she claimed it was for the benefit of the city - _It gives me the chance to do a quick sweep and make sure that everyone is safe -_  although Lena suspected that she just wasn’t quite ready to face an identical version of herself for more than a few minutes at a time.

 

Once Kara had left, Lena quickly padded down the hall into her bedroom so that she could change out of her work clothes. She didn’t even try to suppress the moan that escaped her throat when she unclipped her bra and tossed it into the laundry hamper. She rubbed gently at the marks on her side where the straps had been digging into her all day before pulling on a pair of sweats and one of Kara’s shirts from the top drawer of her dresser.

 

“Lena! Hello!” a heavy Russian accent greeted her once she arrived in the living room.

 

“Hey, how are you?” Lena smiled at the woman before her, curled up on the couch with one of Lena’s books in her lap. “Kara has just gone out to get us some pizza for dinner. She’ll be back soon.”

 

“I am excited to try it.” she smiled in response before the little crinkle appeared right between her brows. “Um, Lena?”

 

“Yeah?” Lena replied as she sat down beside her on the couch, pulling her own knees up to her chin as she finally allowed her body to relax.

 

“I am sorry about yesterday. I did not mean to offend you or to hurt your feelings.” Kara spoke hesitantly, paying close attention to every single word that she was saying. “I did not mean to cross any boundaries and I am so sorry for doing so. It will not happen ever again.”

 

“Wait, what?” Lena’s confusion was evident as she shifted her body to face the woman on the couch. “You didn’t do anything wrong at all? What are you talking about?”

 

“Kara brought it to my attention that I should not have said those things about your lips yesterday. She told me that it was not appropriate, although I don’t fully understand why. I am terribly sorry if I offended you. I meant no harm.” Blue eyes were trained on the floor as Lena took in the information.

 

“I-.. Gosh, no. Don’t you worry about that, I wasn’t offended at all I promise.” Lena spoke softly. “It’s nothing personal, Kara is just going through a lot right now and I think finding out that a part of her was taken away and manifested into you.. It’s a lot for anyone to deal with. You didn’t do anything wrong, don’t worry.”

 

“Thank you, Lena. I do not ever want to upset you.” Kara told her sincerely. “You mean a lot to me.”

 

Before Lena had the chance to reply, a pair of legs and a stack of pizzas piled up ridiculously high walked into the room, bumping against the coffee table before finally stopping to set them down.

 

Lena planned to talk to Kara later on about the whole thing, but for the time being she was content to finally have some decent food. Her headache was easing and thick layer of cheese atop her pizza was blissfully delicious.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on twitter @kashymcgraths :)


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